simple frameworks
Simple frameworks
Hi guys,
so my father in law is visiting from China and that means articles may be a little slow until he leaves on the first of October. Having said that, my god is my son ever happy to see his grandpa!!
Today I want to share an idea I find immensely useful in improving practice.
I call it a simple framework and it is a way of organizing information into key points to allow you to collect knowledge in a succinct and accessible way.
Here is how it works:
when you study a piece of knowledge such as a line of text, an essay, a movement etc, try to identify the essential points, for example, Zhang Boduan mentions that there are two important points in the abdomen, one beneath the umblicus and one behind and that they are like a perch and a nest, so you know that the bird of Qi leaves from under the umbilicus and returns to the umblicus to rest. This piece of knowledge becomes a simple and easy to follow basic idea that you can easily remember.
When you learn a movement in martial arts or Qigong, get your teacher to show you how many movements the posture includes. For instance, a basic drilling and chopping motion in the Pi Quan fist of Xingyi has a motion in which the fist collects and returns to the pubis, a subtle drilling motion which arrives at the solar plexus, the continuation of the drilling movement that arrives in front of the face, the back hand arriving at the elbow, the back hand coming down the front arm, an overturning and chopping motion, by my count that is 7 discrete movements to be able to do the simple version of Pi with your arms.
You can do the same for postural requirements such as the body sinking, the chest relaxing, the palms pushing out, the feet grasping the ground etc. Doing those things is very basic, but later there are more advanced levels.
When you can do the simple things well, then you can start to add more detail, for instance when the hand returns to the pubis area before drilling in Pi Quan you should squeeze your thighs together, push your front knee out and make sure it is vertically aligned, withdraw your chin, raise up your baihui, withdraw your abdomen and round your lower back. This is another layer of complexity which you should ignore until you can do the basic movements and basic requirements well. This level is a combination of the basic movements and requirements in a way that makes the requirements dynamic, that is, things like pushing up the bai hui and strengthening the neck stop being a postural concern and start being a subtle movement.
If you set up simple frameworks you are more likely to arrive at a level in which you can cultivate those more subtle skills and become good at practice.
The same ideas work with meditation, but of course they should be applied as understanding the core principles and being able to apply them, then gradually becoming better at managing small factors and signs in practice.
The big picture is to go from simple to complex over a period of time and to do it intentionally so that you make small victories before going on to things which are more difficult.
Today behind the paywall is the three vehicles secret directive by Li Hanxu, it is a companion text to the nine levels of refining the heart I posted last time and is a the “life energy” cultivation part of Li's system, so it is a very useful read from the Western school of Neidan.